My Brother's Keeper
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Harry finds out that his son, Sirius, has been watching over his brother and sister more than usual. But why?
1. Sleepless

**My Brother's Keeper**

"Sirius hasn't been sleeping well." That's what the letter had said, before requesting his and Tonks' presence for a conference. Harry, for the 50th time that day, replayed Headmistress Kane's letter in his mind.

"_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,_

_I write to inform you of a situation regarding your son, Sirius Gawain Potter." _At that point, Harry'd worried that Sirius had blown up a toilet or something. _"I'm not sure if you are aware, but shortly after the Christmas holidays, Sirius resigned from his position as Ravenclaw Chaser." _Harry hadn't been aware—nor had Tonks. _"When asked, he stated a renewed commitment to his studies. However, as of the last week, I am afraid to say that his grades have, in fact, suffered. This is not for lack of trying—Sirius is a very bright, dutiful boy. He seems preoccupied. His eyes are not focused in class, though he attempts to take notes. The professors are of the opinion that Sirius is not sleeping well." _It was at this that Harry had truly started to worry. He remembered the terrible nightmares that he'd used to have—incidentally, in the same year that Sirius was in now. He'd wondered if night terrors were genetic—if he'd passed his paranoia on to his son. _"Though Madam Pomfrey, Professor Longbottom and I have all tried talking to him, he insists that all is well and promises to be more diligent. Perhaps this is an extreme case of homesickness?" _Harry doubted it. _"I know that he had some difficulty adjusting after Dominique Weasley graduated. I'd like to request a conference, so thtat we may get to the heart of the matter. Sirius is a wonderful boy. It pains all of us to see him in distress. Please send your reply as soon as possible. Yours very truly, Headmistress Circe M. Krane."_

Harry snapped out of his thoughts as the fire in the Hog's Head roared to life.

Out of the flames stepped (well, stumbled) a woman with lime green dreadlocks and a bright purple robe. "Wotcher love!"

For the first time that day, Harry smiled. "Hey Tonks."

"You've been panicking."

"And you haven't?"

"I've been up to my ears in new recruits until about thirty minutes ago, so I haven't really had time," she said, taking his hand.

"And now?"

"Yeah…now I'm worried."

They walked silently up to the castle gates where Artemis, the new gamekeeper, was waiting for them. "Morning," he said with a cheery wave. "Headmistress has set up a special allowance for Apparation, so you can go straight to her office. 'stead of climbing up all these blasted steps."

"Thanks Art!" Tonks said.

* * *

The Headmistress's offices hadn't changed much since Harry's days at the school, save for the abundance of magical water gadgetry. Headmistress Krane loved the study of water magic, and the office reflected that love. "Ah! The Potters," she said brightly. "Please, have a seat. I've just sent word for Sirius. He should be along shortly. Can I interest you in a biscuit?"

The three made small talk for a few minutes, until there was a knock at the door.

Sirius strolled into the room, a spitting image of his namesake, but with blue hair. He'd never explained why he'd decided to take Harry's godfather's teen form, but it was how they'd seen him for the past two or three years. The fifteen year old took a seat next to his mother. "Have I done something wrong?" he asked nervously.

"No," Krane said in a soothing tone. "Not at all. We just wanted to talk to you."

"Sirius," Tonks started, "Your teachers are worried for you. They said you haven't been sleeping."

"I've been having some trouble, yeah," Sirius admitted with a shrug. "But it's fine. Nothing I can't handle."

Harry watched his son closely. The boy had perfected his morphing abilities at the age of two, and Harry knew the cues to look for. He could tell that, at that moment, Sirius was trying hard to stay changed—to hide how he really looked. "Sirius," Harry said gently. "Whatever it is—it's okay."

"Really," Sirius insisted, "I'm fine. I know I've been slacking on my work—I'll do better. May I go back to Charms now?"

Krane sighed, but said, "Yes, I suppose."

The moment Sirius stood up, Harry knew something wasn't right. He saw Sirius turn pale—his hair going from blue to black—and sway. "Sirius!" He jumped from his seat and caught him just before the boy hit the floor.

* * *

Sirius's eyes fluttered open a bit, but he closed them again at the sound of voices. For a few seconds, everything sounded as if he were underwater. But then his father's voice rang through clearly.

"I don't want anyone bothering him!"

"Mr. Potter," it was Madam Pomfrey. "Your son is sick. He needs to be moved to St. Mungo's immediately."

"No," Sirius whispered, struggling to open his eyes.

"Sirius!" Tonks said, clearly relieved that he'd woken up.

He didn't look at her. He stared straight up at the ceiling and said, "I don't need St. Mungo's."

The room was silent for a few minutes. Then, Harry said, "Perhaps I can speak with him alone…."

Tonks nodded and ushered Madame Pomfrey and Krane out of the room.

Sirius finally looked over at his father. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Harry asked, sitting on the side of Sirius's bed.

The boy looked toward the door and, once he was sure everyone was gone, pulled a bunch of parchment from his cloak pocket.

Harry recognized it immediately. "Sirius, when—"

"Over Christmas. I wouldn't have taken it if I didn't need it."

"Why did you need it?"

Sirius knew he had to tell him. He knew he should've told him long before this. With a deep breath, he began to explain himself. "I had a nightmare in October…."

* * *

Tonks loved Harry dearly, and respected his bond with Sirius, so she didn't listen at the door. As much as she wanted to, she left. That didn't mean she wasn't going to get answers immediately, though. She walked quickly down the hall and down the steps. She made it to the dungeons in record time and, luckily, bumped into a Slytherin student. "Wotcher!" she said cheerfully.

"You must be Sev and Nora's mum," the boy said.

"That's right. Could you fetch Sev for me? I don't know the password to your common room. Or where it is for that matter."

"Sure thing!" He ran off to her right and stopped in front of a suit of armor and said, "Deliverance."

Tonks wondered briefly if all of the Slytherin passwords after the war had been about redemption in some way. She didn't have long to wonder though, because Severus came hurtling out of the common room a few seconds later.

"What's up? Who's died?" he asked, panicked.

"No one… but I was wondering if you could tell me what's up with your brother. Has he been acting strange lately?"

"If you call stalking us strange, then yeah."

"Stalking?"

"Yeah…he shows up after Nora's and my classes all the time. And he'll walk us to class when his are close to ours."

"What's that all about?"

Sev shrugged. "He won't tell us. But he says it's important. I don't know how he's doing it…."

Tonks squeezed his shoulder. "Thanks, Sev. Go back to your friends. I'll go check on Sirius."


	2. Sirius

**My Brother's Keeper**

"I had a nightmare in October. I don't know what it was about—just that I woke up screaming. Scared my mates half to death."

Harry nodded and waited for Sirius to continue.

"That was near the middle of the month. From then until our first Quidditch match in November, it was the same thing. _If _I could sleep, I'd have these nightmares that I wouldn't remember. But then something changed…."

"What's that?" Harry asked gently.

"I'd pretty much stopped sleeping at that point. At least, tried to stop sleeping. Scorpius got me a stuffed dragon to sleep with…thought it would help. Don't tell anyone that," he added.

"My lips are sealed. So what changed?"

"I started having nightmares in the daytime—like, while I was awake. And these I could remember…."

* * *

"_How come you're not named for anyone, Nora?"__ one of their friends asked._

"_I am. I'm named for my mum," Nora said._

"_Yeah," Sev said, "When our parents found out that one of us was going to be a girl, they had this long row about what to name her. Dad wanted to name her after Mum and one of their friends, but Mum hates her name. Nymphadora," he added at their curious looks._

"_So their compromise was to take her name and cut out some letters," Nora said. "I'm Nymphadora without the 'ymphad'."_

_Sirius chuckled along with the group, but stayed quiet. He was so tired. He felt his eyelids drooping. "Hey you lot," he said. "I've just remembered I was supposed to stop by Flitwick's office. I'll catch you at dinner." He hugged his sister and ruffled Sev's hair before leaving. Once he was back inside the castle he took off jogging. His ears were ringing. He either needed Madam Pomfrey or his bed. One of the two would work, he was sure. Halfway back to Ravenclaw tower, however, he stopped. The air was getting hazy, and the ringing in his ears was growing louder. He slumped against the wall, exhausted, and suddenly he saw his brother walking towards him. He tried to wave, but found he was too tired. So he waited. Sev would be there in a moment, and maybe he could help him to the hospital wing. Sirius blinked, trying to make the haze go away. It didn't. He looked back up at Severus and saw that there was now a large man following him. "Sev!" he yelled, but it was too late. A flash of green light, and his brother dropped to the floor._

_The ringing in his ears stopped. The haze cleared. Sirius looked wildly around, but no one was there. The large man had gone, and Severus was nowhere to be seen. He ran back down to the main floor, found the door he'd come through, and jerked it open. There, in the courtyard, were his brother and sister. Both perfectly fine, still sitting with their friends. Sirius noticed he was shivering. He closed the door and walked slowly up to Ravenclaw tower._

* * *

"You saw him…die?"

"Yes. And there were more like that. Sometimes I'd see him get taken away, or I'd see Nora…. But in all of them, it was the same two men. I don't know who they are. I've never seen them before."

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He'd no idea what was happening to his son, but he wanted it to stop. "Okay…so what else?"

"I was terrified. But I thought I was going mad, so I didn't want to tell anyone. The day before we left for Christmas, I had the worst one yet. I managed to get to sleep that night, so I had a complete dream. I think the ones I have when I'm awake are just pieces…. Anyway, in the dream I was walking up from the Quidditch pitch. We'd just won the cup—beaten Gryffindor—and the Slytherins were throwing us a party. I couldn't find Nora and Sev, so I went to look by the lake. I saw them walking up to the castle, so I ran to catch up. But someone knocked me over. And then I saw the two men grab them. I tried to stun them, but I missed. They had brooms, and they flew off with them. So I whistled, and a Thestral came to me. I followed them to a house or building of some sort. But when I got there…."

"Nora and Sev were dead."

"There was blood everywhere," Sirius said, trying not to cry. He'd never been as scared as when he'd woken up that morning. "I woke up after that and ran down to the dungeons. Scorpius and Sev tell me the password all the time, so I could get in. I sat outside their dorms for the rest of the night. Made up some lie about not feeling well and sleepwalking when they found me the next morning."

"So when you got home, you took the Map so you could keep an eye on them." It made perfect sense to Harry. He probably would've done the same thing.

"Yeah…."

"How did you figure out how to work it?"

Sirius smiled sheepishly. "I…er…may have asked Uncle George about it…. I don't think he knew I actually had it, mind you."

Harry smiled back and shook his head. "Fine. Get some sleep. The potion Madam Pomfrey left for you will let you sleep without dreaming."

"Thank Merlin," Sirius said, downing the blue substance in one gulp.

* * *

When Harry finished explaining Sirius's predicament to Tonks and Krane, he felt a lot better. Sure, he still had no idea what was going on with Sirius, but at least he had other people to bounce ideas off of.

"Hmmm…" Krane mused, quiet for another moment. "I wonder…would the two of you permit me to write to a close friend about this? I have a theory, and I'd like his expert opinion. I can assure you that he's a most…discreet character, and will try to help Sirius to the best of his abilities."

"Of course," Tonks said. "But what—"

"It's a complicated notion… but I'm almost certain that there's nothing the Healers at St. Mungo's can do for him, as he's not sick."

"Then what do you think it is?" Harry asked. "Who will you call?"

"My friend Sir Rex Alfonsus Smythhiggins the Fourth. Famous Healer, potions master, and most importantly in this case, Seer."


	3. Seer

**My Brother's Keeper**

Sirius woke the next day to packages and items around the foot of his bed. There were six total. "What's all this, Madam Pomfrey?" he asked.

"The story around school is that you're suffering from a bout of severe insomnia brought on by stress. I believe your friends sent you things to cheer you up. Young Scorpius is responsible for the purple dragon."

Sirius smiled. At this rate, he'd have a rather large collection of plushies to cart home at break. "How long will I be here? Is that really what's wrong with me?"

"No. And you'll be here until we figure out what _is_ the problem. No worries though. Your friends also left your schoolwork."

"Goodie…." Sirius mumbled. He crawled to the end of the bed and opened one of the boxes. It was chocolate from Honeydukes. "Are my parents here?"

"Yes, they stayed the night in the village. I believe they're talking to Headmistress Krane right now. I'm sure they'll be along to see you shortly. Don't eat that!" she said, spotting him unwrapping a candy bar. "I'll bring you a breakfast tray."

He waited until she'd left the room before taking a large bite. He wrapped it up again, and waited for his breakfast.

* * *

Over the next three days, Sirius continued to improve. With the help of Madam Pomfrey's sleeping potion, he was able to get some rest. The day visions continued, however. On the third day, in the middle of working on his Transfiguration homework, Krane and his mum came to see him.

"Off you go, Master Brighton," she said to Sirius' friend. "I shall notify Madame Pomfrey that you'll be back after dinner."

"Yes, Headmistress. See you S!"

Once he'd left, Tonks smiled at Sirius. "We have someone who wants to talk to you. He thinks he can help."

"Who is it?" Sirius asked.

"A dear friend of mine," Krane said. "Come in, Red!"

Sirius stared at the man coming through the door. He looked old, but not the normal kind of old. It wasn't the wrinkles, or the gray hair. Those were perfectly normal. It was…something about his eyes. His eyes were…too bright. As if he'd seen the world, but rather than being jaded by it, had learned so much that fear was impossible for him.

"My young Sirius," Rex said. "How are you?"

"Better, sir."

Rex sat next to his bed and sighed. "You mother and Olga…er…Headmistress Krane, explained your situation."

"Yes. They said you thought you could help."

"I do indeed. You see, I believe you are a Seer." He smiled, seeing Sirius's eyes go wide. "Yes, I know. It's a bit hard to fathom. I should like to stay with you this weekend—keep an eye on you when you have your visions."

"They're…these are visions I'm having?"

"I believe so," Rex said gently. "I am a Seer myself. I can teach you to anticipate your visions. With practice, you will be able to know the…style, I suppose, of your visions. What to believe and what to ignore. For that is the most important thing to the Seer—the Truth of your visions is always hidden somewhere in what you see."

Sirius's head was spinning. He shivered. "Then…then Sev and Nora are in trouble! They—"

"Don't worry," Tonks interrupted. "As soon as we were…mostly sure of what was going on, we contacted the Ministry and asked for a transfer. Your father and I are officially stationed at Hogwarts, and our team is in Hogsmeade. Anyone who wants to get to you, has to go through us."

Sirius calmed a little at that thought. "Will I be able to stop the visions?"

"No," Rex told him. "You can never stop them, but you can learn to feel when they are coming. You've been having them more often than most Seers, but they're all related to a specific event. This is natural as you come into your powers. You may only have five visions in your lifetime after this. In any case, I'd like to be your tutor. What say you?"

"Thank you," Sirius said, nodding.

* * *

"First things first," Brighton said. "Let's welcome our Chaser back to the team. Good to have you back, Sirius."

The team clapped loudly.

"Since this is a bit awkward," the captain continued. "We'll work the roster like this—Sirius and Glenn will alternate games. I've checked with Hooch—he's cool with it. This game is Sirius's. Hufflepuff had pull two of their first string Chasers 'cause of bad conduct or something, so it should be a nice quick win for us. Everyone got it?"

All except Sirius chorused their approval. Sirius, however, was paying attention. In the past two weeks, he'd spent every free moment learning how to anticipate his visions. He could tell one was coming. The air got stale, and a faint buzzing filled his ears—though not as badly as before. He closed his eyes and let it take over.

"_Sirius!" Nora screamed._

_The man flew away. Sirius was left standing near the lake. He whistled, and a Thestral flew to him. He mounted it and flew after his sister._

Sirius opened his eyes again. Everyone was staring at him. "Sorry…spaced out. Er…would it be okay if Glenn took this game?"

"Sure, I guess," Brighton said. "You alright, mate?"

"Course I am. I just…need to find my brother and sister."

"Right, well…go ahead. Just make sure you're back here in an hour."

"Cheers," Sirius said, taking his broom and running out.

* * *

He looked everywhere, but he couldn't find Nora and Sev anywhere. With a huff, he ran back down the stairs and out the front doors. He looked both ways to make sure there were no teachers around, and mounted his broom. Flying down to the gamekeeper's hut was the most relaxing thing he'd done in a while. Maybe he shouldn't have let Glenn take his spot. He could use the distraction. Shaking his head to clear it, Sirius landed and walked quietly around the hut. He could hear voices in the woods. One was his brother's. He took out his wand and walked into the trees. "Sev?" he called.

"Sirius! Over here!"

Sirius ran over, finding Severus and Scorpius under one of the trees, petting a Thestral. "Sev. You alright?"

"Fine. Just tired of everyone following us. And I haven't been able to properly talk to Scorp in forever."

"Reckon that's my fault…me and my visions."

"About us being kidnapped?" Sev asked.

"Yeah," Scorpius said. "They don't want me near you, in case it's my dad or granddad behind it."

"Well…" Sirius said. "Whatever. Just glad I found you. Let's go find Nora so I can get back to the pitch."


	4. Savior

**My Brother's Keeper**

They walked back toward the Quidditch pitch, talking about each House's standings. They were just a bit away from it when something sharp hit Sirius in the back. He went sprawling to the ground, along with Scorpius. As he struggled to a sitting position, he heard a yell.

The man—the skinny man—had Severus. He pulled him onto a broom and flew off.

"NO! Severus!" Sirius's head was splitting. "Nora. Where's Nora? Where's my dad?"

"I'll go get him!" Scorpius said, sprinting down the hill toward the pitch.

Sirius stood and looked around.

"Sirius!"

He turned. It was Nora—and she was being carried by the other man. He whistled, just as Artemis had trained him, and a saw a Thestral come out of the trees. It flew to him quickly, and he jumped onto it just as the other man flew off.

"Sirius, no!" Harry yelled as his son flew away.

Sirius kept flying, never taking his eyes off of Nora and the man. The air was getting stale again. He tightened his grip, muttered, "Stay with them," and closed his eyes.

* * *

"_And this one…" the big man said._

"_Get your hands off of me!" Nora snapped, kicking him in the shins. _

"_A firecracker this one," the auctioneer said. "But I'm sure one of you'll be able to break her."_

"_The only thing that's going to be broken is your face when I my parents find you."_

"_Don't know about her," one of the men said. _

"_She's halfblood, but has Black and Potter blood in her. The boy too. Nora Potter—let's start the bidding."_

* * *

Sirius opened his eyes. They were over the village of Hogsmeade. Spells were whizzing past him in both directions. He kept his eyes on Nora's captor and flew on. They landed on the roof of the train station. "_Tarantallegra!_" he yelled, pointing his wand at Severus's kidnapper.

The man began to dance wildly, and Severus slipped from his grasp.

"DON'T!" Sirius yelled, seeing Severus start to run to Nora. It was too late.

"_Sectumsempra!_" the man holding Nora yelled.

Severus fell to the ground.

Sirius couldn't decide what to do. Severus looked like he was losing blood rapidly, but the man who held Nora was almost to the staircase. He backed away toward Severus, hands raised.

"That's a good lad," the kidnapper said. "Drop the wand."

"I need it to help my brother," Sirius said quietly. "_Bombarda!_"

The stairs and part of the wall exploded. The kidnapper dropped Nora and covered his head.

With another whistle, Sirius ran over to Nora and pushed her onto the Thestral. "Go!" Looking up, he could see the team of Aurors descending. He ran back to Severus, who was choking on blood. "Fuck," he said. "_Vulnera Sanentur_," he whispered. Some of the wounds began to close, but it wasn't enough. "_Vulnera Sanentur_," he said, with a bit more force. He sighed with relief as the wounds closed, completely this time.

"Where did you learn that, boy?" a voice asked. "Very impressive…."

There was a wand at Sirius's temple.

"You were the most unremarkable Potter," the kidnapper said, pulling Sirius to his feet. "Fifteen, with no extraordinary talents. And suffering from nightmares and delusions. But I think now…now that we know you better…you'll fetch a larger price than you brother and sister combined. Drop your wand."

Sirius did so. He saw the Aurors behind the man.

"Don't any of you think of doing anything stupid," the kidnapper said. "Or the boy dies."

"Severus is hurt!" Sirius yelled.

"Shut your gob!"

"Get him back to the castle." With that, Sirius kneed the man in the groin as hard as he could. He grabbed the wand he'd dropped and ran back to his brother. "Severus?"

"He'll be okay," one of the Aurors said. "Thanks to you."

"Sirius!" It was Tonks. She ran over to him. "Oh god…"

"He'll be fine, Tonks," the Auror said, lifting Severus up. "Get the other two back to the castle."

"Nora's already there. Harry flew with her. Sirius, let's go."

Sirius watched the kidnappers being arrested, only following when Tonks tugged on his arm.

"Let's go," she said softly. "Everything's fine. Let's get back to the castle."

* * *

By nine o'clock the next morning, absolutely everyone in the school knew about Sirius the Seer. He'd finally had enough around lunchtime. Slipping out of his group of friends, he made his way to the hospital wing to see Severus. Nora and Scorpius were already there. "Can't believe Pomfrey's allowing the party," he said.

"Some party," Nora said. "We're just griping about all the nosey gits at this school."

"Can you blame them?" Sev asked. He still looked, and sounded, a bit weak, but it was clear his health was improving. "It's not every day someone gets kidnapped…."

"Thank Merlin…."

"Had any more visions, Sirius?" Scorpius asked tentatively.

"None."

He really hoped it stayed that way. Because now he recognized the look he'd seen in Rex's eyes—it was the look he'd one day have. The look of a Seer.

**_Fin_**


End file.
